Why Use Cover Crops?
Cover crops add organic matter to the soil – Organic matter provides benefits to the soil and the subsequent crop in many different ways. Organic matter improves the physical condition of the soil by improving soil tilth, stability of soil aggregates, water infiltration, air diffusion, and by reducing soil crusting. The addition of organic matter can also increase the populations of soil microbes and earthworms, which in turn, contribute to efficient nutrient cycling and improvements in soil structure. Finally, organic matter additions can also increase nutrient retention in the root zone. Cover crops reduce soil erosion – Scientists have estimated that the United States has lost 30% of its topsoil in the past 200 years due to agricultural practices that do not return organic matter to the soil and that leave bare fallow soils for a significant portion of the year. Erosion has long-term costs such as loss of agricultural productivity and aquatic habitat as well as sedimentation of rive
